I-95 through Overtown: over 12,000 residents removed, nearly all Black (Miami, 1956 to 1960s)

SUMMARYI-95 through Overtown: over 12,000 residents removed, nearly all Black (Miami, 1956 to 1960s) [Connections: Miami & Lake Okeechobee, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDIn 1955 a plan put the expressway along the FEC rail corridor with little impact on Overtown housing; in 1956 the route was shifted west, directly through Overtown, over community objections, to leave room for downtown expansion; construction in the 1960s destroyed much of the housing and main business district, and the population fell from about 40,000 to about 10,000 (University of Miami). Segregation by Design says building I-95 forcibly relocated over 12,000 residents, nearly 100% Black, that renters received nothing, and quotes historian N.D.B. Connolly (A World More Concrete): "Displacements were intentional." Wikipedia gives the fall as roughly 50,000 to just over 10,000 and says the area was once called the "Little Broadway" of the South

PATTERNA state road agency chose the route that erased the district the city had forced Black people into

LENS (WW9)Fenced in, then paved over

OPENPopulation-before figures differ (40,000 vs. 50,000); find the 1956 State Road Department route decision document

SOURCEOvertown Chronology (UM Libraries); MIAMI: I-95 (Segregation by Design); Overtown (Wikipedia).